Nassau legislator arrested for fraud

Nassau County Legis. Roger Corbin, D-Westbury, is expected to appear before a federal judge in Central Islip this afternoon after he was arrested by federal authorities and charged with filing false federal tax returns and making false statements to FBI and IRS officials about money he received from a developer involved in a New Cassel revitalization project.

Corbin, 62, allegedly received 81 checks totaling $226,000 from a developer between February 2005 and December 2007. The checks were made out to “cash” and deposited in one of Corbin’s personal bank accounts. He used the money on personal expenses, including more than $100,000 in gambling losses over the three-year period, a federal complaint states.

In interviews with officials from the FBI and IRS, Corbin acknowledged receiving the checks from an unnamed developer who had been awarded construction contracts as part of the New Cassel revitalization project, but claimed he did not use any of the money for his personal benefit and instead gave the money to an unnamed person who was paying workers at the developer’s New Cassel construction site.

However, federal officials found that the person he was allegedly paying died on Nov. 9, 2005 and bank records revealed that 73 of the checks, totaling $206,500, were received by Corbin and deposited after that person’s death, the complaint states.

Corbin also did not report the money nor pay income tax on it in his 2005, 2006 and 2007 federal tax returns, the complaint states.

According to the complaint, “The defendant admitted that ‘I know as a lawmaker, if I got money that benefited me, I would have to pay federal, state and local taxes.’ However, the defendant claimed that he did not ‘benefit one iota’ from the money he received.”

If convicted, Corbin faces up to five years in prison on the false statement charges, and up to three years in prison for each false tax return filed. Each count also carries a fine of up to $250,000.

Corbin, in his seventh term as a legislator, was first elected in 1995. He is the first black Democrat elected to the Legislature. He served as deputy presiding officer from 1999 to 2007 and represents New Cassel, Westbury, East Garden City, East Meadow, Hicksville, Hempstead, Lakeview, Old Westbury, Uniondale and West Hempstead.